Stella Lancon

Stella Alvarado was born in Brighton, CO. on 8/21/1925. She was the tenth of eleven children. As a baby she contracted polio which gave her a permanent condition of severe scoliosis. She lived in Denver beginning at the age of five years old. At the age of 6 years old, she was in a full cast at Denver General Hospital. She received ongoing therapy and treatments for her condition. From the age of about 12 years, Marcus used to walk with her 20 minutes to the Speers Rehab Center in downtown Denver on a weekly basis for several years. They had a good time doing this being downtown by themselves.

Stella had a very strong personality even when she was young, as she often made her younger brother Marcus and older sister Frances play jacks with her. She and Marcus were in charge of cleaning the house before school as the older siblings were working. It was a fun time working and being together for them. They moved several times as youngsters around the west Denver area.

Stella went to Franklin Elementary, Baker Junior High, and graduated from West High School. As a teenager she very involved in her school activities. In their teenage years, Stella and Marc worked at a dance hall for her sister and brother in law on weekends. She worked as a coat checker and Marc worked at the soda bar. They walked 15 minutes to the downtown dance hall for work.

After high school, she worked at several jobs during WWII. When Ruben Barcelona returned from the navy, they were married in 1951. She was 26 years old. They had met in high school. They were married 38 years. After they married, they moved to California to be around her brothers and sisters that moved there, as they were all very close. They lived in California for the majority of their married life but moved back to Denver the last 15 years where she also had family. She was a home maker and very involved with her church community in California as well as in Denver. Her husband Ruben passed away in 1989.

After Ruben passed away, several years later she married Fred Lancon. They were old friends in California. Fred moved to Denver to marry and live with Stella. They were married about 10 years before he passed away.

Stella had many friends, a beautiful family and a wonderful full life. She was a pioneer in learning about natural health, reflexology and using alternative medicine to take care of herself. In addition she appreciated art work and Asian decor. She would often change the pictures on her walls to enjoy the variety of art work she owned.

Stella enjoyed getting together with her family and friends for a variety of activities. She had two very happy marriages and was loved by many. She was very devoted to her ministry in the Jehovah Witness community. She enjoyed going door to door to share her beliefs and on a regular basis went to the meetings.

In the last few years Stella and her closest brother Marc, Stella enjoyed weekly lunches and chatting about life at her home. It was something she looked forward to, having that special time with each other.

She was fun and enjoyable for all to be around and she will be greatly missed for a very long time. She is survived by one brother, one sister-in-law and many nieces and nephews.

From her loving family and friends.